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Local Actress Writes Book For On-Set Extras New To Show Biz

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WOLVERINE LAKE (WWJ) - She’s a local actress who knows how show biz really works and she’s written a book to teach anyone how to be a star on the screen and on the set.

Under the bright lights, Jamie Arindaeng knows how to shine — even if she’s just on screen for a moment.

“It is a lot of fun, you know, it’s great for anybody,” Arindaeng told WWJ’s Kathryn Larson in the theater of Orchard Grove Community Church.

As a featured extra, Airindaeng has had close-ups in the now-defunct TV show “Detroit 187,” playing a reporter, to the blockbuster movie “Ides of March,” where she had a chance encounter with George Clooney.

“In the hall, his back was to me and I didn’t know it was him. And I was like ‘Oh my gosh’ when he turned around and just looked at me, and he’s like ‘Oh my gosh, do you bump into everybody?’ and I’m like ummm, I didn’t know what to say,” she said.

Airindaeng said she met another hottie this spring when she was filming a scene with the other star of Ides of March — Ryan Gossling.

“Things happen outside of the railing and I get really excited and look over, and then I have to go back to my work,” she said.

Despite Arindaeng’s love of the limelight, she said there’s a lot of down time on set, and she fears many extras and first time actors are overwhelmed under the pressure.

“Every time I get to set, I notice that people are confused, they don’t know what’s going on, they hear jargon,” she said.

That confusion is what she said enlightened her to write this one of a kind common sense book “101 Tips for the On-Set Extra.”

“So, I became the mom, kind of, on set and what I would do is kind of just go over to the person and say ‘Let me help you out,'” she said.

In her book, Arindaeng devotes a full chapter to what you should not bring on the set. But, she said there’s one thing in particular that you do want to bring: a bag that you can fill with snacks from home because the worst thing is you don’t know when dinner will be served.

“And that’s just what happens with the union, they eat six hours after they get to set. So, if they show up at 10 in the morning, six hours later they’re going to have lunch, and you might show up and say ‘I’m starving’ and you work until 8 o’clock at night,” she said.

Arindaeng said another big tip is to stay away from bright blue eyeshadow and wearing white.

Want to read “101 Tips for the On-Set Extra?” You can buy the book for $14.95 at www.amazon.com.